Love God with one's whole self

[weedy]

Love God with one's whole self

"Human life consists in a threefold unity. We are taught similarly by
the apostle in what he says to the Ephesians, praying for them that
the complete grace of their 'body and soul and spirit' may be
preserved at the coming of the Lord. We use the word 'body,' for the
nutritive part, the word for the vital, 'soul,' and the word 'spirit'
for the intellective dimension. In just this way the Lord instructs
the writer of the Gospel that he should set before every commandment
that love to God which is exercised with all the heart and soul and
mind (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27). This single phrase
embraces the human whole: the corporeal heart, the mind as the higher
intellectual and mental nature, and the soul as their mediator."
--Gregory of Nyssa, 330-395(excerpt from ON THE MAKING OF MAN 8.5.10)

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December 3rd - ST. CLAUDIUS

Considering the large number of saints named Claudius, it is difficult
to identify which of these is this young man with long hair, wearing a
cloak and soldier’s greaves and gesturing with his hand, as if talking
to the people hurriedly passing by each day in Galleria Vittorio
Emanuele and Piazza del Duomo. Claudius is a Roman name, and therefore
the majority of these martyrs were of Roman origin. While the military
leggings of this statue are a clue, there are three Claudii who served
in the Roman army. The first Claudius, together with Lupercus and
Vittoricus, was a legionary from Lèon in Castile, enrolled in the
Legio VII Gemina (7th Twin Legion), in the mid-3rd century. The Legio
VII was a very long-established legion: it had been founded in 68 BC
by Galba, one of the four pretenders to the imperial throne who warred
amongst themselves for a whole year; a year that the historian Tacitus
records as unus et longus. From that date onwards, the legion was to
serve the empire in Spain up to the 4th century. Claudius and his
friends, converted to Christianity, are thought to have been martyred
under the governor Diogeniano.

Another Claudius was a tribune of the army who, while he was
questioning some Christians, converted together with his wife Hilaria
and their sons Jason and Maurus, and with him 62 or 72 soldiers,
depending on the sources, also converted. The Emperor Numerian
(283-284), when he found out about the betrayal of his officer, had
him thrown into the sea with a stone tied around his neck. This type
of death was often an expedient used by hagiographers when the place
of burial is not known. The rest of his family was killed, and their
tombs were along the Via Salaria up to the 7th century. The only
record of Claudius, on the contrary, is in the Martyrologium Adonis,
and unlike his wife and sons, he does not appear in other passiones.

The last Claudius who was also a soldier was a legionary from Antioch,
in Asia, who also served under the Emperor Numerian: indeed this
emperor is accused of an authentic cycle of martyrdoms, something
which has little historical grounding, since he was in office for
little more than a year. This Claudius, despite his valid feats
against the Armenians, was discovered to be a Christian and exiled to
Egypt, at that time governed by Arrian. During a heated discussion,
the subject of which is not known, the governed became so enraged that
he killed him with a javelin. This Claudius has two traditions:
according to the first, he was buried beside St. Victor, and then they
were both transported to Antioch; the second version is given by the
Ethiopian church, according to which he is buried in Asyut.
Furthermore the Ethiopian Church has a salam, a brief poetic
composition in honour of the saint, probably formerly part of a long
list of Ethiopian saints, entitled Hagiologium metricum habessinum.
According to some scholars, this Claudius could be identified with
Aklimos, martyr of the Ethiopian royal family. Lastly, a certain
Constantine bishop of Asyut, composed an encomium in honour of
Claudius around the 7th century, which received great acclaim and is
preserved in Coptic, Arabic and Ethiopic. Whichever one of these he
may be, whether Roman, Spanish or Ethiopian, Claudius was a soldier,
and he says so to the people swarming through the square with his
leggings, the greaves that were useful against the barbarians, but not
against the enemies of the faith. Yet he is still there, busy talking,
asking for an audience, in one of the many languages he has learned,
from Africa to Castile.


Bible Quote:
Do not complain against one another, brethren, that you may not be
judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. (James 5:9)


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Come, O Long-Expected Jesus
Breviary Lauds Hymn

Come, O long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free,
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art,
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a king,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone,
By Thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.